Service stations on toxic hit list

The local service station is an increasingly frequent source of neighbourhood contamination, representing more than one in four of the most toxic sites in NSW.

The Department of Environment and Conservation is considering regulations to deal with the potential threat of leaks from petrol tankers and holding containers, which are now considered a more worrying form of potential contamination than sources such as former industrial sites.

The department will today launch an internet site listing the 205 sites deemed to pose "a significant risk of harm" to the environment or human health.

The most toxic municipality in Sydney is Botany Bay, with 25 clean-up notices listed for 13 sites in the area, followed by Canada Bay, Pittwater and Parramatta.

The manager of the department's regulatory unit, Niall Johnston, said people often forgot that "petrol and diesel in themselves are contaminants of concern".

"Petrol is a pretty nasty thing - we just don't think about it because we put it in our cars all the time."

There are contaminated service station sites across Sydney, including in Pittwater, St Ives, Killara and Eastlakes. All sites are being cleaned up.

Mr Johnston said the sites did not discriminate between areas. "You might put chemicals in southern Sydney, not Potts Point, but petrol stations are everywhere."

The department has been notified of more than 50 cases of contamination at petrol stations and surrounding areas since 1986. These usually involve petrol that has leaked into the soil or groundwater, or evaporated.

As industrial sites are redeveloped across the city, often for housing, big contaminators such as gas works, former power stations and chemical manufacturers are gradually being cleaned up.

But taking their place as toxic sites of concern are petrol stations in residential areas.

The executive director of the Service Station Association of NSW, Ron Bowden, said service station operators would welcome regulations specific to the industry. Leaks did happen and clear guidelines about which government body to notify would be adhered to.

"We have to make sure that industry is doing what it needs to do too," Mr Bowden said.

Regulations, such as those in Victoria, would probably set minimum performance standards for equipment and log books to monitor movement of petrol.

The register lists all sites that have been issued with a clean-up notice, or that have entered into a voluntary remediation agreement with the department since 1986.

There are 555 notices relating to 205 sites in NSW.

The sites are often issued with clean-up notices only when they are being redeveloped or disturbed in some way, and some sites have had their notices withdrawn. The Alexandra Canal, which cuts through Botany Bay, Marrickville and South Sydney, is one example of a highly toxic site in Sydney. Pesticides (including DDT), PCBs and metals are present in the sediments on the bed of the canal, says the remediation site declaration issued in 2000. There are indications that the contaminants have found their way into the Cooks River, and possibly into Botany Bay.

Fish taken from the canal contain levels of PCBs higher than the maximum allowed by the National Food Authority.